Georges michiels



UNITED STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

GEORGES MICHIELS, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

MANUFAGTURE OF GAS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,789, dated October 3, 1846.l

To all whom t may concern.' Y

Be it known that I, GEORGES MICHIELS, of Paris, in the Kingdom ofFrance, but now residing in the Island of Guadeloupe, have made acertain new and useful Invention of Improvements in the Manufacture ofGas for Lighting and Heating; and I do hereby declare t-hat the natureof the same is fully set forth and represented in the followingspecification and accompanying drawings, letters, figures, andreferences thereof.

TheJ invention consists of a mode of manufacturing gas, (which I termoXid of oarbon) for the purposes of light and heat, by causinganthracite coal (or other equivalent) when in a state of combustion, tobe subjected to streams of air, and steam, so as to produce gas, and inorder that the inven tion may be most fully understood, and readilycarried into eect, I will proceed t0 describe the means pursued incarrying the same into practice.

The furnace for the making of gas, according to this invention, issimilar in con- A struction to a blast furnace,` employed in making ironfrom iron stone mine, vor ore, with only slight modifications, to adaptthe same to the purpose of gas making from anthracite coal, by applyingthereto streams of air and steam.

The drawing above mentioned, shows a vertical section of a blastfurnace, construct- -ed suitably for carrying out thevinvention.

The upper part of the furnace is closed by a plate a, through whichthere is an opening, with a hopper b, aiixed, as is shown; O being avalve or slide to be withdrawn, when charging the furnace, and closedwhen the charge has been introduced.

At (l, d, the furnace is contracted, which is just above the boshes, andbelow such contraction of the furnace, there is an outlet e, to which apipe is fixed, and it is at this point the gas (oxid of carbon) passesoff from the furnace, as generated; and as the gas is liable to carrywith it fine dust of the coal and ashes it may be made to pass throughseveral finely perforated metal or other proper plates m, placed in avessel y, at a distance apart, so as to interceptv the dust, andseparate it from the gas. -The gas then passes through a suitable pipe eand into an ordinary gasometer or suitable receiver, from which the gasis conducted, by other, pipes to burners, to be used for` the purpose oflight and heat.

f isthe blast pipe for introducing a hot blast of air, which I havefound does not require to be at a greater pressure, than from three tofour ounces on the inch. g is a steam pipe, byl which steam is freelypassed into the furnace, taking care Athat the quantity admitted, doesnotl cool the furnace down below a very bright red heat, and the steamso admitted is first heated, by passsing through suitable heatingapparatus, in the same way as air is heated for a hotblast, and I preferthat the steam should be raised to 600O of Fahrenheit.

In charging the furnace (after it has been lighted and well heated, asAis well understood) if only gas, for the purposes of light and heat areintended to be produced, then only anthracite coal or any properequivalent will be introduced into the furnace, and the process willsimply consists of keeping up the charge in the furnace, as it becomesconsumed, and from time to time, stopping the admission of the blast andthe steam, and raking out the ashes at the bottom of the furnace,throughl a suitable opening, which may be covered with an iron plate,and closed and luted, when the furnace is working 0E the gas.

By the above described means it will be seen that the gas (oXid ofcarbon) is obtained by subjecting anthracite coal, or other equivalentwhen in an ignited state, to streams of air and steam. I would remarkthat oXid of carbon is a gas, which is well known, and has before beenobtained by different means,from those herein described, and itscapability of being used as a means of producing light and heat, wheninflamed, is well known, and I mention these circumstances, in order tostate that I do not claim any novelty, in applying such gas to thepurposes of light and heat. And I would only further state, that whenusing the gas (oXid of carbon) for the purposes of light, I use it witha portion of carbonated hydrogen, to increase its brilliancy. Thesubstance which I prefer for this purpose is oil .of turpentine, butother convenient compounds of carbon and hydrogen rich in carbon may beemployed.

The end of'the pipe by `which the oXid of carbon is conveyed from thegasometer or receiver is immersed in the oil of turpentine, and the gasin'its passage through such liquid takes up sufficient to givebrilliancy to the light; or other modes may be resorted to, for causingthe gas to become mixed with such substances.

In burning the gas (oxid of carbon) Vobtained according to thisinvention, for the purpose of heat I prefer to combine it Withatmospheric air, and this I do by supplying air from another gasometeror receiver, similar to that Which contains the gas, so that he air andgas may come to the burner in like quantities, and at like pressure, andbe mixed near the burner; but this using of air is not essentiallynecessary.

Having thus described the invention and the best means I am acquaintedWith for performing the same, I Would have it understood that, what Iclaim, is-

l. The hereinbefore explained improvement in the manufacture of gas fromanthracite, or other equivalent, for the purpose of lighting or heating;the same consisting in the employment of a closed furnace (constructedand combined with a gasometer as described) and streams or jets ofheated Vsteam and air forced into the charge there- Gr. MICHIELS.

lVitnesses:

J. HISELAIN, ED. T. CASEY.

